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Live blogging from Montazeri funeral rallies

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Iran's most prominent dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, died of a cardiac arrest yesterday aged 87. A major critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, supporters of the outspoken cleric have come out in mass for his funeral.

A close aid to Ayatollah Khomeini during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Montazeri was proposed as his successor but in 1989 he fell out with the powers that be over the execution of thousands of government opponents. He became increasingly critical of the Iranian regime, and lived the rest of his life largely under house arrest. After Ahmadinejad's re-election in June this year, Montazeri said that the vote was fraudulent and that the government was losing legitimacy; a message gladly received by anti-government protestors.

Last night (Dec. 20), large numbers of people gathered in the central cities of Isfahan and Najafabab, and the capital, Tehran. Many supporters have made their way to the sacred Shiite city of Qom, 100 km from Tehran,where the cleric's funeral is taking place today.

According to our Observer Omid Habibinia, many of the gatherings have turned into anti-government demonstrations, and also attracted pro-government agitators. Foreign press is not allowed to attend.